Safety attachment for railway-cars



(N0 moael) H. LISTERUD.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY CARS. No. 308,909. Patented 1360.9, 1884.

Nn giassis as is, at

UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE HANS LISTERUD OF SACRED-HEART,MINNESOTA.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT oe RAILWAY-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 308,909, dated December9,1884.

' Application filed August 5, 1884. (No model.)

.T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HANS LISTERUD, a subject of the King of NorwayandSweden, having declared my intention of becoming a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Sacred Heart, in the county of Renville, inthe State of Minnesota, haveinvented certain new and useful'Improvementsin Safety Railroad- Car Attachments, of which the followingspecification is a full, clear, and exact description, reference beingalso had to the accompanying drawings, inwhieh- Figure 1 is a side view,and Fig. 2 is an end view, of a railroad-car truck, showing myimprovement attached thereto. Fig.3 is a perspective view of a portionof the safety-frame detached.

A represents a portion of the frame of the,

car; B, one of the trucks, and O the rails of the track. v This devicemay be attached to any form of railroad-car; but for the purpose ofillustration I shave shown it attached to an ordinary freight-car truck.

My invent-ion relates to that class of safety attachments consisting insecuring an oblong frame formed of .Wood or metal, or partially of woodand partially of metal, beneath the frame of each of the trucks a shortdistance above the track, so that in event of the wheels leaving thetrack the frames will support the car and slide along the rails andprevent the wheels striking the ties, and at the same time serve as abrake to gradually stop the forward motion of the car.

My invention consists in certain improvements in the manner ofconstructing these combined safety and brake frames and in attachmentsthereto, whereby they are rendered more certain in their action.

D D are the side timbers of the safetybrake fraines, firmly attached tothe under side of the truck-frames outside the wheels, and connectedacross their ends by end cross timbers, D D. These timbers will befirmly and securely attached to the trucks B and.

to each other, and will be suitably braced and clamped to enable them towithstand the severe strains to which they must be subjected. The endtimbers, D D, will be shod on the under side with iron or steel shoes a,each shoe bed than the outer ends, to enable the shoes and frame to runover small elevations between the rails.

The distance between the rails O and shoes or, when the car-wheels arerunning upon the rails, is less than the'height of the rails, so that ifthe wheels leave the rails the shoes a and frame D D D D" will supportthe car upon the rails and prevent the flanges of the wheels fromtouching the ties, while at the same time'the lugs b b will catchagainst the insides of the railsand prevent the shoes and brake-framefrom running off sidewise from the rails. By this arrangement the shoesand frameact as a brake to, gradually check the speed of the car andbring it to a standstill without damage to the car or track.

The shoes (0, with their lugs b b, are a very important feature of myinvention, as the former prevent wear upon the timbers D D,

and the latter serve to keep the frame and car upon the track. Thecurving upward of the central parts of the shoes is also an importantfeature, as the car is thus enabled to run over small projections,guardrails, frogs, switches, ,&c., without striking them. The presenceof the safety-brake frame thus does not interfere with the car any morethan the ordinary brake-beams and shoes. The end timbers, D D, will befar enough away from the wheels to leave room for the ordinarybrakeshoes to be inserted between them.

Having described my invention and set forth its merits, what I claimis- 1. The combination, with a railromlrar truck, of side bars, Dl),attached to said truck outside of its wheels, end bars, b D*, connectingsaid side bars, and metallic shoes a a, secured underneath the end barsand extending the entire length of said bars, each shoe being providedwith two'downwardly projecting lugs, 11 b", whichare situated over theroad-bed between ,the rails when the car is in position, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing wit- 10 nesses.

H ANS LISTERU D.

\Vitnesses: O

HANS GRONNAUD, PETER B. OLSON.

